Monthly Archives: December 2014

For awhile, during high school and a few months after, I was doing the ‘normal Dad thing’ with Tim. You know, coaching him to go to college, offering him up with various alternatives for the future, etc. I kept running into a brick wall until I finally realized – “Tim” needs to push himself. Tim needs to be the one to figure out what it is he wants to be, what he wants to do to earn money enough to finance whatever lifestyle he wants to live.

No one knows your weaknesses, your strengths, your vulnerabilities like your spouse does. With that said, anyone who’s been married for a number of years knows then what a fair fight and an unfair fight is. An unfair fight is one of harsh words, words that cut beneath the skin. Words are more harmful than a smack in the face. A smack leaves a mark but it always goes away within a few days. Harmful words pierce the heart – they can take years to heal, if ever. Continue reading →

Although I was born in California and I live here today, I grew up in the medium sized town of Hamilton, Ohio. Like a lot of towns, Hamilton was originally founded as a fort. By the mid 19th century it had become a significant manufacturing town and it has a colorful history. It was even once affectionately known as Little Chicago. If you read the Wiki link here, you’ll even read that the entire town was off limits to military personnel due to the prevalence of gambling and prostitution. In my own lifetime, there were a few events that occurred there which most of us would have preferred did not. We that grew up in Hamilton sometimes affectionately refer to it as “Hamiltucky”.

This week’s story is a funny memory from way back when Kim and I had been married only a few years. The year was 1985 and Kim was pregnant with our second son, Corey. We lived in Hamiltucky at the time. Kim was an LPN and I was still working for the foundry, HP Deuscher. To begin this story, I want to share a spotty memory from my very early childhood. Continue reading →

I just finished up a short walk to my local Safeway grocery store. I have a motorcycle and I have a bicycle and I love riding them both. I ride my bike every other day for 15 miles down on the American River bicycle trail (link). Let me tell you – it’s a gorgeous ride. If I need to run an errand that might normally require a ride in a car, I will choose to ride my motorcycle as long as it’s not raining and I can get into my backpack whatever I’m picking up. Where it comes to a small load of groceries though, I always choose to walk, wearing my Fox motorcycle backpack. On almost on every occasion, I’m taken back to my childhood when I would walk to the corner grocery store for my mom. Continue reading →